I hope the year 2012 will bring you lots of happiness! And I would like to keep working on helping you all improve Japanese on this site, as well as on Twitter and Facebook!

OK, the first lesson of the year was requested by my FB friend, Nur !

He asked me how to use わけではない (= wake dewa nai)

Let’s get started!

The kanji for わけ(=wake) is 訳 . It means reason(s)

The literal meaning of わけではない (= wake dewa nai) is

“It is not the reason (why)”

We use it when we want to say

It doesn’t mean that., It’s not like 〜. , It’s not the case that 〜., I don’t mean that〜., That is not why 〜., That is not the reason 〜., It is not really 〜., not to do much〜., not necessarily, not altogether 〜., not particularly 〜.

I know, I know…there are many meanings. We’ll look at the usages one at a time.

How to form :

★verb+ わけではない( = wake de wa nai)

•食べるわけではない

= Taberu wake dewa nai

= Not really eating / not to do much eating

•飲むわけではない

= Nomu wake dewa nai

= not really drinking / not to do much drinking

★na-adjective + な (=na) + わけではない ( = wake de wa nai)

•正直なわけではない

= Shoujikina wake dewa nai

= not necessarily honest/ not altogether honest

•静かなわけではない

= Shizukana wake dewa nai

= It is not that quiet / I wouldn’t say it’s that quiet

★i-adjective + わけではない ( = wake de wa nai)

•おいしいわけではない

= Oishii wake dewa nai

= It is not that delicious

★noun +というわけではない ( = to iu wake dewa nai)

•美人というわけではない

= bijin toiu wake dewa nai

= (She) is not particularly beautiful

Note : You can also add という (=toiu) / っていう(=tteiu) (→more casual) after an adjective.

Hello Sensei. I have a doubt about “de aru”. I can say “Maggie no kare de aru wake ga nai”, but I can’t say “Maggie no kare DA wake ga nai”, it has to be “kare no wake”, right?
Then, is “de aru” that different from “da”?
Also, If I wanna say it in past tense, “Maggie no kare datta wake ga nai” is correct or should I use “de atta” or something like that? It confuses me that somethimes de aru is used where “da” as a more formal version but also in place of “no”
And, If I say “Kare no yume wa watashi no yume de mo atta” (trying to say “his dream was my dream too”), is it common or sounds too formal? Any more casual way to say it?
Thank you!!

Thank you so much! Your explanations are detailed and easy to understand. The part where you explained the difference between わけではない and わけがない was invaluable. The textbooks I’m learning from (N3 Kanzen or Sou Matome) do not explain the nuances between the two forms as well as you did. I have been enlightened!

First of all I wanted to thank you very very much for such wonderful lessons. You made them in a very interesting and easy-to-learn way, which is quite difficult. I am also really impressed how precise your lessons are. Thanks to you my japanese has become much better.
Now, if you allow, I’d like to ask you two questions about わけ.

1. When わけがない cannot be interchanged with はずがない? It’s quite difficult to see the difference between わけがないand はずがない, however there is a difference, which is: 「はずがない」は客観的判断であり、「わけがない」は主観的判断です。

2. What’s the difference between というわけ vs （な）わけ, and when is it necessary to use というわけ instead of （な）わけ?

I think that 「という」 used in 「というわけ」(depending on context) might also imply hearsay (伝聞) (people say/they say/it seems like). Which means that the speaker doesn’t fully agree with the – let’s call it – general idea of something or second-hand information. This brings me to the conclusion that そんなに複雑なわけではないがやたら時間がかかる means: It is not so complicated, but it takes a lot of time, and そんなに複雑というわけではないがやたら時間がかかる could mean:
1. It is not that they [/people] say it’s so complicated, but it takes a lot of time, or
2. It is not that I say it’s so complicated, but it takes a lot of time.

こんにちは！Tennin!
Thank you for your nice message!
1. わけがない and はずがない ：
Yes わけがない is subjective and はずがない is objective.
Ex. 1) 日曜日なのに銀行が開いているはずがない
Ex. 2) 日曜日なのに銀行が開いているわけがない。
The translation can be the same and we may use them the same way but Ex.1) All the banks are supposed to be closed on Sunday. Ex.2) There is no way that banks are open on Sunday and it express your strong opinion.

2) (A little correction 絶対に嫌なではない。→絶対に嫌なわけではない)

I think your interpretation is correct in certain cases but という is not always for hearsay. We also use it when we explain how things work. The main difference between ~というわけではない and ~わけではない is ~というわけではない is more explanatory.
I have mentioned in my という lesson so please go check.

じゃない is a casual form of ではない and as you said, it is used to make a negative form.

Ex. マギーはねこではない→マギーはねこじゃない= Maggie is not a cat.
Ex. この言葉は日本語ではない→この言葉は日本語じゃない。 = This word is not Japanese.

However this じゃない in the example sentence is not for negative sentence.
It means the same as でしょ= desho
まだふられたわけではないでしょ。
and used as a tag question such as “isn’t it?/ don’t you?, etc.” or express your opinion and asking the listener for their agreement.

And it simply stresses the previous part “まだふられたわけではない”

Women use this form often.

Men would say じゃないか= janaika
まだふられたわけではないじゃないか。

It is a great question. If I have a chance, I will make a lesson on じゃない for you.

I just made a mini lesson on kara on Facebook. ~kara
Kara and dakara indicate the reasons for something. (Because ~ , since~ , ~ so, etc.)
The difference between ~から and ~だから are what comes before them
＊~だから is for na-adjective

Also だから can be used in the beginning of the sentence and gives a reason for the previous sentence.
Ex. 昨日は風邪をひいていました。
= Kinou wa kaze wo hiiteimashita.
= I had cold yesterday.
だから宿題ができませんでした。
= Dakara shukudai ga dekimasen deshita.
= That’s why I couldn’t do any homework.
Note : You can’t start a sentence with から

Hi sensei. I have a suggestion. Why don’t you include a detailed description about Kanji in your site and give an example about each kanji? I think this is a great idea as it will help me and many students in learning kanji.I want to know how to write and when to use them. Can you help me?
I hope to hear from you sensei.

Thank you for your suggestion. However, but there are a lot of sites where you can learn Kanji already exist. Ex.one. English site.
Google them. I know there are so many kanji but start from first grader kanji.
And if you have a question regarding how to read and stuff, I can always help you on Twitter.

I must disagree, Maggie Sensai is fantastic at teaching me. I have learned quite a bit these last few hours. I have even noticed that when I am reading one of the sentences my mouth just automatically seems to know what sound to make for the next couple of syllables. It is kind of nice. Then I kind freak out thinking my brain was moving faster then my mouth only to find out that what I slipped out was actually correct.

@Top
I know….I have an iPhone and iPad,too but they don’t support Flash/ Adove. I found this video
The appr called CloudBrowse. It seems to work… but it changes the fonts. I guess I need more time to do some research…

Oh thank you for this lesson, it was a life-saver! I always keep confusing the two forms! But I remember seeing わけでもない once, used in the flow of a conversation; is it the same thing that わけではない with a も instead of は, or is it somewhat related to tricky particle でも?

Hi Daeva!
Good to hear this lesson helps you!
The English translation for わけではない and わけでもない could be the same but there is a slight nuance difference.
I am not sure if I can answer this in the comment section but,

1) わけではない denies stronger than わけでもない

A) そういうわけではない That is not the reason / That is not the case /
B) そういうわけでもない Not exactly

わけでもない sounds more vague and it implies that could be a part of the reason.

2) However there are cases わけでもない emphasizes more than わけではない like “even”